Worrying New Virus Which Can Cause Organ Bleeding Strikes in Peru

Scientists are monitoring a man who has been infected with a new virus in Peru.

The 20-year-old man who works in civil construction began to present symptoms including fever, chills, muscle aches, tiredness and anorexia 2 days before he was referred to a hospital in the city of Chanchamayo.

Research from the US Naval Medical Research Unit concluded that samples taken of the male patient’s virus showed it to be a new variant of a phlebovirus, of which malaria and Rift Valley Fever are also variants.

Samples taken of the man’s blood revealed that the strain contained DNA properties similar to the Candiru virus, but with novel differences which ‘’could not be explained by virus mutation’’. This means that the virus is a new entity rather than a mutation of an existing pathogen.

Phleboviruses can cause some extremely worrying symptoms including hemorrhagic fever where patients bleed from their mouth, ears, eyes and organs.

The study, which is published on the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention website, describes how there has been an ‘’increased detection of novel and recombinant pathogenic and nonpathogenic phleboviruses worldwide’’ over the past decade.

The scientists concluded that their findings indicate that the new virus is already circulating in the jungles of Peru and warned that research centres should be set up in the area in order to monitor its development and to protect public health:

‘’Our findings indicate that a novel ECHV variant is circulating in the jungle of central Peru.

‘’Continuous public health surveillance, including genome characterization as a complementary tool, is critical to identifying novel and emerging viruses of clinical relevance in the Americas,’’ reads the study.

So far, it is unclear as to how the man was infected with the new virus, but malaria, another virus of the same type, is usually spread to humans by the transfusion of infected blood from mosquito bites in tropical climates.

Unlike COVID or flu, it is not possible to contract malaria simply by coming into contact with someone who has the illness. It is not an airborne virus and can only be spread by contact with blood, bodily fluids or infected animal tissue.

The NHS advises travellers who plan to go to parts of the world where malaria-type viruses are prevalent including Central and South America and parts of Africa and Asia to sleep under mosquito nets, use insect repellent on your skin, to wear long sleeved clothing and trousers and to take prescribed antimalarial medicine.

The MailOnline reported that the UK Health Security Agency has called for patients presenting malaria-like symptoms to be monitored, a measure it says is ‘’necessary to detect novel and emerging pathogens’’.